Nose Woes

As the kids grow, I notice that the dangers you have to look out for don't disappear. They merely shift into knew zones. At first you worry that they won't wake up, then you worry that they will never go to sleep. You worry that they are gaining enough weight, then you worry if they are gaining too much. And then, you worry about what they put in their mouths that they shouldn't. A choking hazard, something poisonous, something utterly disgusting. What I never really thought I would be worrying about was what they would be putting up their nose. Ugh...now there are nose hazards to worry about? What is that all about? Just when I thought that worrying about Alex putting things where they don't belong were over, he goes and puts a rock up his nose. Pardon me while I take a moment to roll my eyes...

*Insert obvious eye roll here*

Okay. That's better. So yesterday, we were outside enjoying the beautiful morning. Abby was aimlessly wandering around and Alex was innocently playing in the sandbox. I looked over at Alex and he had a finger all the way up his nose. I did the mom thing and said, "Alex, get your finger out of your nose." He gave me one of those I-did-something-that-I-shouldn't-have-done looks and I immediately knew that something was amiss. I asked him what he did and he said, "I put a rock in my nose." (At least he's honest about it, right?) At first I didn't believe him, but he started crying and his nose starting running on the opposite nostril. I looked up his nose, and sure enough! There was a big black rock stuck as high up as he could push it. I felt my heart start panicking. What the heck do you do when a rock is up the nose? I thought about cocoa puffs. The rule for cereal up the nose is 'crunch and blow'. But a rock doesn't exactly crunch, does it? So I tried to pinch it out and had him blow at the same time. Amidst the crying and blowing, I think the snot slimed up the rock enough that it came shooting out. It popped out into my hand and Alex, being a typical almost-three-year old, starting giggling. He thought it was hilarious. I told him to never put anything up his nose. At this point, nose picking is no longer my biggest concern. Germs, schmerms...I'd take a finger up the nose over a rock any day of the week.

The Zoo: Part 2

There really isn't too awful much to say today. I simply wanted to share some more photos of our zoo outing. I'll save the mindless ramblings for another day. Enjoy!

This is quite possibly the best picture I have ever gotten of my two little monkeys. And they are posing on a monkey (orangutan, to be precise) sculpture. Classic! This has 'Christmas present' written all over it.

Grandma (my mom) and the kiddos, posin' on the statue. I love it! Maybe I need to
Photoshop Grandpa in there. Hmmm...

Other than the reflection of Abby's pink shoe, It almost looks like they are standing next to the sleeping lion.

Alex standing next to 'the old mine shaft'. Funny thing. He actually asked me to take his picture here. This zoo does a great job with the exhibits and making you feel like you are actually in Africa.

Another one of my finer photos of the day. You would almost think that this was taken in the wild. The gorillas were pretty nifty. Very active that day.

Dad and the kiddos in the bamboo.

And finally, the journey back to the van. And they are each clutching gift-shop finds. That is a huge stuffed snake and some little plastic Australian animals that Alex is gripping and a stuffed tiger for miss Abby. To date, they are nearly inseparable.

The Zoo: Part 1

This past weekend we had the pleasure of going to the zoo. Actually, this is the second time that the kids and I have been there this year, but Alex has been begging to go again for quite some time. So, lucky for us, we had a chance to go for free. And of course, there's no better way to go than on another person's dime. Part of the perks of the Union that Josh is in, are the social outings that they pay for. We even got to take grandparents for free. Unfortunately, my dad (aka: Grandpa), couldn't make it. He had a some pretty bad knee pain. But Grandma got to go and the kids were thrilled! I think my mom was thrilled too. She reverts to a kid when she goes to places like this. It's awesome that she has such a youthful soul. It was a blast. The kids are a great age to enjoy all the zoo has to offer. Alex had a few animals in mind that he was set on seeing from the beginning and Abby was just happy to get to run amok through the exhibits. We even got a free lunch, courtesy of the Union. The thing with the lunch that I almost busted into song about, was the fact that Alex and Abby got to eat the same thing we did for once. I normally have to pack a lunch (which I packed anyways because I wasn't sure about the food they were serving). It's an extremely rare moment (actually more like a nonexistent moment) when we get to eat anywhere but home. Due to Alex's deadly milk allergy, I have to be adamant on checking and then rechecking food labels. We've never been to a restaurant because you can't check labels there and nearly everything served is potentially in contact with cheese or milk based products at some point in time. So when I found that the hot dogs and buns were a-ok to eat (they brought out all labels for me to check...how kind of them), we got to eat the same thing. It was fabulous! They even had chips and alex-friendly cookies to eat. I'm starting to like the Union more and more. So after a long day of walking (and chasing), lots of animals, and lots of pictures, we went home with two very tired and happy kids. I'm splitting the zoo blog up into two parts because I had so many great pictures that I couldn't resist putting up two postings full of zoo family fun! I will say one thing more. Going to the zoo with kids, makes you realize just how wonderful having a family is. I love it!

Abby was happy as a lamb to walk free among the zoo. I don't even know why I bothered with the wagon.

The reptile exhibit has always been a huge winner. This time around, Alex had a hay day trying to find all the camouflaged critters.

What's that I see? Is that me? In my experience, I've found that it is a rare moment indeed when a mother actually gets to be in the photo. Though, I must come clean...I took the picture myself, so does it really count?

I love this picture so I had to share. Though there was glass between us, you wouldn't know it. This picture turned out awesome. Not even a glare! I feel like a regular Steve Irwin. (okay...so I didn't wrestle the gator, but still...)

Alex asked to see the bears from the moment we pulled into the parking lot. These are grizzly bears...very lazy grizzly bears.

Alex and Abby riding the staple photo-op mock cow.

Water buffalo. Yup...that's about all I can say. Just liked the picture with Dad and the kids.

Tune in tomorrow for more fun family zoo photos...

My new niece

Hooray! I have a new neice! And I got the go ahead on stats and her name. I went to the hospital tonight so see her and get to hold her for the first time. And I must say, she is quite the cutie! Perhaps I am just a wee bit bias, but look at that face and tell me she isn't absolutely adorable. I dare ya! Her name is Greta Rosalyn. She was born around 10:30 this morning. She's 8 lbs 11 oz and 20 1/4 inches long. Though, I truly am baffled by this. Mandy did not look anywhere near capable of having such a big girl. I was shocked. I don't know where she was carrying that girl, but I was banking on 7 lbs 14 oz. Guess I was wrong. But it's the only thing I miscalculated on. This sure does make me feel like a cow because miss Abby was only 8 lb 2 oz. and I literally looked like the moon...or the sun (It just depended on what color of shirt I was wearing).

So, back to Greta. She has dark hair like her big brother Wesley and what appears to be dark gray eyes. She has perfect little fingers and a perfect little round head. No cone head for this cutie! (and no...she wasn't a c-section baby) I'm excited to go and see her again tomorrow. I got to talk to her and I think she recognizes my voice. After all, I was around Mandy so much that there's no way she won't recognize my voice. Though, I'm not sure that she will recognize it as well until she hears me yelling. Because 95.6% of the time I'm yelling for Alex or Abby to get off of high objects or some nonsense like that.

Alex is pretty excited to hold her when the time comes. We had a nice conversation on the way to the hospital this evening. I told him that Aunt Mandy has a new baby girl named Greta and he said, "Yeah! I like babies. They go wah-wah! Can I hold the baby Mommy?" I told him that he would eventually. He sure does love his Aunt Mandy and was excited to see her.

So, here are a couple of pictures that I snapped this evening. Welcome to the world Greta! It's gonna be a blast watching you grow!

Big brother Wesley's first meeting. I'm not sure he knew what to think.

The beautiful family of four...awww.

Greta with her Grandma

She's Here!

continued from earlier post...

WOO HOO! We have a bouncing baby girl on our hands now! I just got the call and boy was I right! I wagered on two to three hours after the epidural and right on time...Mandy had her baby girl. I won't say the name or the weight yet because I don't want anyone in her family that might be a reader of my blog to get the news here. But rest assured...after I get to see and hold my new little niece this evening, I will be posting a picture and all the stats. I will say that it only took three pushes to pop her out. Ugh...I can't even imagine that. Good for her! Congratulations Mandy, Sean and new big brother Wesley! I'm so freakin' pumped to see the little girl!

to be continued...again...

It's Time!

Last night, in the wee hours of the a.m., my best buddy, Mandy, called me to tell me that she was in labor and admitted to the hospital. Of course, at around 8:00 yesterday evening, she told me that she was having contractions that were 23 minutes apart that changed to 14 minutes apart over the span of two hours. She was getting excited, but then the contractions fizzled back to 23 minutes apart until 11:30 p.m. It was then that they became 7 minutes apart, she decided it was best to get herself into the hospital for the big birthing process. And got herself to the hospital, she did. Literally. She actually thought that it was an inconvenience to everyone that she was in potential labor and told her hubby, Sean, that he should just keep on sleeping and that she would call him if they admitted her. Of course, this was at 3:30 in the morning when she told me about this. Oooh, I could have skinned her alive! So every seven minutes during the 45 minute drive to the hospital, she had a lovely contraction. They weren't the 'I can't walk and talk' kind yet, so she said it wasn't that bad. Inconvenience...hmpf! Goofy girl. If I hadn't had two sleeping children and a husband that was working two hours later, I would have driven up there and kicked her butt for doing that. But that is Mandy for ya. So I talked with her for about an hour and then tried to get some sleep. I have anxiety/panic disorder so once I knew that she was in there, sleep was far from my mind. I had got about two hours of compiled sleep when she just called me and told me that after 14 hours of labor, she got a lovely epidural on the rocks. They wanted to break her water, so the contractions were about to kick into high gear. Smart move too. Those early contractions are bearable, but they can wear you pretty thin for the long haul. Alex was a 30 hour labor and I didn't sleep during the entire thing. I had an iffy epidural that didn't really work as good as they are supposed to. Once they broke my water the epidural stopped working and it hurt pretty bad still. So here I sit, blogging about my upcoming niece's arrival into the world. She just called and told me about the epidural, water breaking, and that she is a stretchy 6 cm dilated. So until further notice, I told her to get some sleep (she hasn't slept all night, naturally). I'm banking on two hours from now when I will hear the phone ring with an adorable baby crying in the background. Or at the very least, a phone call from Sean saying that they are about to start pushing. I'm pumped here, folks! I'm gonna be an aunt again! Woo-hoo!

To be continued...

Soon...

My friend, Mandy, is going into labor. With her first one, Wesley, she was induced so she isn't sure if she is really in labor, but I am positive she will be having this baby within the next 24 hours. She was sure that she would overdue with this little baby, but I placed bets on her being five days early. He he he...I bet I'm right. I am excited to see how this all pans out. It's starting...